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New innovations to be presented at HostMilano 2021 includes coffee with cotton candy floating in the air above it to enhance the cup flavor profile adding sweetness to the beverage gradually. (Photo courtesy by HostMilano)
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The 2021 edition of HostMilano will open the doors to 1,100 exhibitors from over 40 countries, organizers confirmed this week. Photo courtesy by HostMilano)
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HostMilano will see the return of the top global competitions to a big live audience with the World Barista Championship, World Brewers Cup, and World Cup Tasters Championship. (Photo courtesy by HostMilano)
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New coffee innovations to be presented at HostMilano Oct 22-26, 2021, include presenting coffee-making robots as part of the latest in technology. (Photo courtesy by HostMilano)
The coffee industry is getting more excited than just the regular caffeine buzz as HostMilano, the top hospitality trade show for the industry tries to inject some exhibition life into the coffee business. In just over two weeks this bi-annual event will be held Oct. 22-26 in Italy’s commercial capital at the Fiera Milano.
After 18 months of global pandemic lockdowns, never before have new innovations been able to stir up appeal to the emotional highlight of returning to meet in person with friends and fellow industry professionals as the 2021 edition of HostMilano, which the organizers confirmed this week will welcome 1,100 exhibitors from over 40 countries. And there is more than enough inspiration to go around to every single member of the audience which will represent all segments of the coffee and tea industries from coffee shops and bars to machinery and retail to vending pavilions.
For the world’s entire population of baristas, from the youngest or newest aspiring brew masters to seasoned café professionals, the return of the global coffee competitions represents perhaps one of the most positive signs that the industry is coming back post-Covid-19 with the World Barista Championship, World Brewers Cup, and World Cup Tasters Championship all getting ready for a show-down. Organized in partnership with the Specialty Coffee Association, the competitions will take place throughout the five days activities at Fiera Milano.
“I’ll just be happy to be there because it will signify that the industry is back and fighting fit again,” said Michael Jones, progressive content editorial director of the worldwide Foodservice Consultants Society International (FCSI), in a statement to organizers.
“I think coming out of the pandemic, the social aspect of seeing people in person will make the show extra special this year,” Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, told organizers in a separate statement, adding: “I am always impressed by the incredible diversity of options” that HostMilano has made it a tradition to showcase since the hospitality expo was first launched over 40 years ago.
And in the homeland of espresso, what better way to make the symbolic return to the world’s “new normal” but with a coffee break?
“Coffee break has always been a kind of lifestyle,” said the HOST organizers in an Instagram post, marvelling over all the new innovations the global Covid-19 pandemic brought about and which will be revealed during the show later this month. “Is it possible to communicate a business without neglecting a new kind of ‘innovative sustainability’? What roles have smart labels taken up in the post-pandemic era? How can we put people at the center, investing on connections and relationships between stakeholders, companies, and employees?” a statement said.
Presenting over 800 different “innovative events” with activities from live sessions with leading coffee industry professionals, producers, and bartenders to grand gourmet chefs and ice cream “maestros”, HostMilano said a few of the new innovations include presenting coffee-making robots in the latest of technology and coffee served with a “fluffy cloud of cotton candy floating about the cup” to enhance the savory experience of slowly adding sweetness to the beverage.
Other innovations include a new generation of hand-free automatic milk steaming machine by one of Italy’s oldest espresso machine makers, La Marzocco – which first started inventing specialized equipment for espresso coffee all the way back to 1927; while an automatic packaging machine for coffee capsules will be presented by third generation Italian coffee machinery makers Senzani Brevetti, the company said in a statement.
“The 0MNIA is an extremely flexible machine, which can be tailored by Senzani designers to the most complex requirements and configurations in terms of packaging, performance and space requirements, as well as capsule formats [from Nespresso to Caffitaly, from K-cup to Lavazza blu, from A Modo Mio to the brand new Vertuo],” said Senzani.
After much too long with Covid-19 intervening everything in life as we used to know it, the coffee industry is ready to get back to the new normal and STiR coffee and tea will be in Italy to cover all the news from the HOST show at Fiera Milano.